4/18    I'm thinking about getting a TV Tuner/Video input card for my Mac,
        specifically this one (AlchemyDVR ~ $120):
        http://miglia.com/products/video/alchemytvdvr/index.html
        Does anyone have experience w/ this card (or alternatives)? I'm mostly
        looking to convert VHS/8mm tapes into DVDs.
        \_ If you want to make DVDs, then you eventually have to encode
           to mpeg-2. The original instructions, as I recall, recommended
           that you either capture in mpeg-4 or MJPEG. MJPEG takes huge
           amounts of disk space. I have the alchemy, but I also have the
           eyetv200. The eyetv has better software, encodes using mpeg-2,
           and the built-in editor is pretty good. EyeTV also works well
           with toast and popcorn since the founder of roxio also founded
           the eyetv company. The alchemytv is pretty decent for the bucks,
           but if you have the bucks, the eyetv is way better.
           \_ So my plan was to play the tape and then use iMovie to
              capture and edit the video and then use iDVD to burn a
              DVD. Is the software that comes w/ EyeTV better/easier
              than this solution?
              \_ I haven't used those programs to do what you are trying to
                 do. However, I was under the impression that Apple's tools
                 work with DV. If that's correct, then DV takes up a lot of
                 space which is one thing to consider. I did hear that the
                 iMovie editor is kinda nice. It may be better than the eyetv
                 editor, especially if you can cut to an individual frame,
                 and do final cut pro style edits. The nice thing about
                 importing directly into eyetv is that the file is in mpeg-2
                 (smaller file sizes), and the quality presets are pretty
                 good (highest quality is about 3GB per hour, standard
                 about 2GB per hour, etc.). You will probably have nicer
                 DVDs using iDVD (nice themes, compared to toasting them).
                 I've been using eyetv to import videos, cut with FCP, and
                 then using DVDSP3 to build a DVD on the hard drive. Then
                 use popcorn to burn the disk if I go over 4.39GB.
                 \_ I think you are right re Apple's tools and DV however
                    I'm not that worried about disk space b/c I have a 250
                    gb drive w/ 100 gb free and I'm going to pick up another
                    one when fry's has them on sale. I'll think about the
                    eyeTV but for what I'm trying to do I'm not sure the
                    extra $100 or more is really worth it. Thanks.